In 1706 Edward Anstee, the constable of Swanbourne, was summoned for refusing an order to arrest Edward Hobcroft, a labourer of Swanbourne. He had been charged with ‘bastardy’ with Susan King of Winslow, and was eventually handed over to Lt. John Busby of the Regiment of Marines, since ‘dureing this present Warr’ such was a convenient means ‘for rayseing recruits for the Land forces and Marines.’ Employing a more voluntary approach, shortly after his arrival in the village Captain Thomas Fremantle tried to interest the local youths in a naval career, but apparently without much success for, from aboard the warship Ganges, on Sunday August 24th 1800 he wrote to his friend, the Marquis of Buckingham; ‘Before I left Swanbourne I endeavoured to get some boys from thence, Winslow and Mursley, to go with me to Portsmouth, and though I talked to the overseers of the parishes, and the boys themselves, particularly two from Winslow, who came to me for relief, the sons of a man of the name (I believe) of Higgins, whom you discharged, at my request from the militia; still I could not persuade any one of them to go, nor did any one of the overseers dare to urge them on the subject.’ Only a lad by the name of Hutchings, the son of a Swanbourne farmer, had shown any interest, although he would cause early concerns, as evidenced by Captain Fremantle’s letter, written on board ship on March 17th 1801; ‘I made the School Master give young Hutchings a good licking this morning for having the presumption to strike him, he gets on better than he did, and will I think in the fear of a Rod do well.’ Indeed, discipline was duly instilled, and in the aftermath of the Battle of Copenhagen during the following month Thomas wrote to his wife from aboard the Ganges; ‘if you see Hutchings tell him his son behaved exceedingly well, and will in time I hope make a good Seaman.’ No doubt she complied, although of the farmer’s other son she seemed much less impressed; July 15th 1803; ‘Mrs. Hutchings called with her boy George, who is much grown but has not lost his stupid look.’ Today, with the proliferation of adolescent pests there is often a popular call to reintroduce National Service, yet even in the later 19th century such troubles were apparent, for rampant within the village was a hooligan element of youngsters who habitually congregated together, especially on Sundays, to insult and accost persons of the village. In fact on one occasion a young girl was surrounded by more than the usual quota of ‘young desperadoes’, and when brought to justice some were charged with assault, with others having to pay 4s 6d each within a specified time, or ‘appear and receive judgment.’ Then in another incident a servant girl alleged that on leaving chapel she had been ‘grossly ill used’, and was lame from the kicks of two boys.